+The Text+ here printed is taken from Percy's _Reliques_ (1765), vol.
ii. p. 302, etc. He compiled his ballad from a broadside and another
copy, _Kinge John and Bishoppe_, that he found in his Folio MS.; and
since he made it a much more readable ballad than either of his
originals, it is reproduced here.
+The Story.+--Riddles asked by a monarch of one of his dependants, and
answered by a third person assuming the guise of the person questioned,
form the subject of many ancient tales. In Sacchetti's _Novelle_ we find
both the abbot and his representative, a miller, who answers Bernabò
Visconti the four questions, How far is it to heaven? How much water is
there in the sea? What is going on in hell? What is the value of my
person? The answers to the first two of these are given simply in large
numbers and Bernabò told to measure for himself if he does not believe
them. The value of Bernabò's person is estimated, as in our ballad, at
one piece less than our Lord.
Another favourite question in these ballads is, Where is the centre of
the earth? The answer is given by the man planting his staff and saying,
'Here: prove it wrong if you can.'
In the Percy Folio version, the shepherd is the half-brother of the
abbot.